


Knight Moves (42)

by dvs



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-28
Updated: 2011-03-28
Packaged: 2017-10-17 08:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/174816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dvs/pseuds/dvs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unlike all other standard chess pieces, the knight can jump over all other pieces to its destination square.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knight Moves (42)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suzvoy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzvoy/gifts).



> For the lovely Suz on her birthday <3

## middle game

A month after the train incident, Luke hears Reid's voice in his ear, so intimate that it brings goose bumps up all over his skin. It's as if Reid is right there, hovering by Luke's bed, whispering urgently, "I know you can hear me, Luke. I know you can hear me."

He's been ignoring the voice, but stubborn and irritating, the voice has gotten loud enough that Luke sits up in bed with a frustrated noise that rumbles in his chest, but doesn't quite make it out. Luke moves to the edge of his bed, rubbing his forehead, eyes shut and aching. He looks up into the dark room, searching for something. He's not sure what Oakdale is without Reid. Whatever it is, it's not the same as it was before he turned up with that surly mouth and sharp tongue.

“Luke,” Reid insists.

Luke springs up from his bed with a yell. “Stop! You're not real!”

His door opens minutes later and Lily is standing there on the safe threshold, hand on the doorknob. Tentatively she asks, “Luke, honey?”

Luke swallows and turns his back to her. “I'm fine. Just can't sleep.”

Carefully she says, “Well, I can make you some hot milk if you're--”

“Mom,” Luke says firmly. “It's okay. I'm fine.”

“Okay,” Lily says quietly, her voice sounding wet and shallow. Quickly she adds, “We're here if you need us.”

Luke nods, not speaking, and waits for the door to shut before he takes a deep breath and makes no attempt to go back to sleep.

## ***

Noah is still here. His flight got cancelled and keeps getting cancelled. Is this what Oakdale does? Keep people around against their will no matter how much they want to leave? Letting them go only to die. Noah is laughing about something, while Luke smiles and listens, mostly concentrating on the warmth of the coffee cup in his hand. Everything has felt so cold since Reid. He can't seem to warm up no matter how much he tries.

Noah is different these days. So much more animated and confident. He's taking care of Luke in subtle ways, sometimes with a soft touch to the shoulder, a hand guiding Luke by his elbow, an absent-minded rub to the back. Luke wonders if Noah even realises what he's doing. In any case, Luke hates to admit it, but it's what he wants. He wants to feel someone's touch. He'd like it if someone could just hold him so hard they could squeeze the life right out of him.

“Hey.” Luke looks up at Noah who is clearly worried. “You're crying.”

Luke is shocked to find tears on his cheek which he quickly wipes away. Shaking his head, he laughs a little, troubled by the way his grief seems to be so outside his control. “Okay, that was weird.”

Noah reaches out to cover one of Luke's shaking hands. “Luke. It's okay. You don't have to hide--”

Luke snatches his hand away, but smiles at Noah all the same. “I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping.”

Noah looks cagey when he says, “Maybe you should see someone.”

Luke snorts. “Why? Because I can't sleep? I'll be fine.”

“What about the nightmares?” Noah asks tentatively.

Luke stares at Noah. He starts to ask why Noah would even know, but ends up saying, “So, what, you're all talking about me behind my back now?”

“Luke, your parents are worried about you,” Noah says firmly before adding, “So am I.”

Luke sits back, arms folded across his chest as he clamps his mouth shut to keep in the less than polite advice he has for Noah. After a while he manages a tight smile and says, “I am fine. It's just... I just need some time.”

Noah nods, so damn understanding, all earnest eyes. “I know. I'm here for you.”

But I don't want you, Luke thinks, his heart beginning to hurt all over again.

## ***

“Luke. Luke, wake up.” Luke sits up in bed slowly, like moving through glue, Reid's voice hushed and insistent in his ear. “You can't just ignore me.”

“He's dead,” Luke mutters, blinking away the sting of tears. “This isn't him.”

“Can you hear me, Luke?” Luke shakes his head in refusal. “Luke.”

“I can hear you!” Luke yells.

The door to his bedroom opens and before Luke knows it, his mother is there, holding him tight while everything in his mind seems to cave in. He can hear her, but can't make out the words, trying to ground himself through the feel of her hands stroking and holding him.

## ***

“It started about a month ago. I could hear him calling me. I tried to ignore it, but it just got louder and louder,” Luke says, vacantly staring ahead at the door, looking for an escape.

“What does the voice tell you to do?”

Luke rolls his eyes. “It doesn't tell me to do anything. He just keeps asking me if I can hear him. I keep imagining him trapped in some awful place where he can't hear or see anything.”

“Do you think that's what's happening?”

Luke sighs heavily, rubbing his forehead before answering tersely. “Of course not. It's why I said imagining.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why what?” Luke asks.

“Why do you imagine that he's trapped?”

Luke stares at the doctor. He's not sure how to answer the question. Especially now that the doctor appears to have Reid's face, if none of his mannerisms.

“Luke?” the doctor asks, his real face snapping back into place.

“He hated it here,” Luke says quietly. “Oakhell, he called it. It was my fault he ever came here.”

The doctor nods and makes a note. Luke decides to forget about this place. There's nothing here for him.

## ***

Luke spends a lot of time at the pond. Reid would probably point out that sitting around the spot where you dumped someone's ashes doesn't put you any closer to the deceased. But what's Luke supposed to do? Float around the hospital like a ghost? Make excuses to visit Katie? Reid's life in Oakdale was short and though he managed to touch lives, he hasn't left much of a physical imprint. All Luke really has is a chess piece which reminds him of the Reid Oliver no one really knew. The one who laughed and babbled and smiled.

“I can hear you,” Luke whispers, sitting by the pond, holding a black knight in his hand. “I wish you could hear me.”

And someone steps in front of him. Luke looks at the boots and follows the legs all the way up to see a man who died over a month ago. He's frowning at Luke with intense curiosity. Reid holds out his hand and Luke's heart beats with panic as he looks at the hand and shakes his head, shuffling backwards before he can find his feet and get up, backing away.

“Luke?” Reid asks as Luke continues to shake his head, moving further and further away until someone grabs his arm and turns him around hard.

“Luke! It's me,” Noah says, holding onto to Luke. “It's me.”

Luke stares at Noah for a while, before looking back at the pond to find Reid gone.

## ***

Reid is as stubborn in death as he was in life. He plagues Luke's waking and sleeping moments with an outstretched hand that terrifies Luke beyond comprehension. And because the dead can find you anywhere, Luke can't even hide. Sitting across the table from Luke, Reid stares at him with a piercing look. Luke looks right through him. He sees him and hears him, but Luke lets it all pass through him as if he's the ghost here.

“You see him, don't you?” Noah asks.

Luke looks at Reid, looks him right in his eyes, his heart pounding hard. “Yeah. I see him.”

Reid smiles a little. “So you do know I'm here.”

Luke's heart speeds up just that little more.

## ***

“You can't ignore me forever,” Reid says, standing patiently by the bedroom door.

“I can try,” Luke says as he pulls on a shirt with unnecessary aggression. He feels breathless, his heart always beating too fast when Reid's spectre shows up demanding attention.

“And you can't hide forever,” Reid says quietly.

Luke finds his keys, snatching them up and moving to the door where Reid is standing in a deep burgundy shirt and black jeans. Luke halts to a sharp stop, blinking stupidly at Reid, hand tightening around the sharp points of his keys. Reid quietly looks back, the curves of his mouth silent and secretive.

“I miss you so much,” Luke whispers. “I wish you'd never come here.”

Reid is still, untouched by shadow or by light, nothing more than a picture in Luke's mind. When Luke reaches out and strokes his face, he feels...

“Nothing,” Luke says dully. “You're not here anymore. Just like you wanted.”

He walks past Reid, lacking the courage to walk through this apparition, hallucination, whatever it is, only just hearing Reid says, “I meant what I said. I love you.”

Luke stops by the stairs, frowning at the steps below his feet, wondering why he needs to know this now. Why Reid having loved him even matters anymore.

Even so. “I love you too.”

## ***

Noah has been to L.A and back. He seems to have done this a few times. There's always some reason for him to be back in Oakdale, giving Luke those looks. Looks that were perfect once. Now Luke sees Noah in Java, tapping away at his laptop and all Luke can think of is Reid with one of his many disgruntled faces.

Everyone in Oakdale knows how to smile, whether they mean it or not. They know how to make nice. And then there was Reid who scowled and pouted through the whole time he was here. He was like a gust of truth that blew through Oakdale and now everything seems wrong.

Luke stands in the doorway of Java, wishing he could be back at that place where all he wanted and needed was Noah. Everything seemed small in comparison to being with him. Everything else didn't matter so much. And now Noah is just part of that world which carries on so easily without Reid Oliver.

Oakhell, Luke thinks.

## ***

Luke dreams that Noah is holding him close, telling him everything he wants to hear. Luke says, “Promise you'll never leave without me.”

Noah smiles and so easily gives his promise before pulling Luke close and making everything all right. But it's not his voice when he speaks in Luke's ear.

“You going to stay in Oakdale forever, Luke? Is that what you're going to do?” Reid asks him. Luke jolts backwards, fighting his way out of a tight embrace. “You're just going to stay and waste your life?”

“Let go,” Luke snaps, struggling against Reid.

“You don't belong here,” Reid says firmly, his fingers tight around Luke's biceps, shaking him hard. “Listen to me, damn it!”

Luke stops struggling and glares at Reid. “No. You're the one who never belonged here.”

Reid snaps, “Then why did you keep me here?”

The dream pops as easily as a bubble.

## ***

Luke is staring at a chess piece, a black knight. Reid was never chivalrous, but he was stupidly brave. That he should have treasured this one piece that Luke is holding in his hand, it's the most unpalatable irony ever and is far too unsettling.

Holden sits down opposite Luke in a slow measured fashion, giving Luke time to compose himself in whatever way he needs to do so. His expression is without judgements or presumptions. All he does is wait with a small smile of understanding.

“I thought it would get easier with time,” Luke says, turning the chess piece over in his hand.

Holden nods. “Well, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. There are no rules to what you're going through, Luke.”

Luke closes his eyes with a sigh. He's so tired. So heavy and tired. “I see him. And hear him. I wish I knew what he wanted from me.”

“Maybe you're looking at this backwards,” Holden suggests, prompting Luke to open his eyes and look at Holden's unreadable expression. “Maybe you need to ask yourself what you want from him.”

That's easy, Luke thinks. All he wants from Reid is Reid.

## ***

The first drink is the hardest. Luke's hand shakes when he raises the glass to his mouth. He knows he shouldn't. Like all the other times he went ahead and drank, he knows he shouldn't. Like all those times, he goes ahead and does it anyway.

It starts with a grim wait to lose all sense of presence, drinking quick and ordering more. And then comes that light-headed feeling, the moment he can feel himself detaching from everything around him, everything he doesn't want to know or see. A haze of nothingness is what he needs to block everything out. To block Reid out.

His drifting body and mind is snatched back down to earth when a hand covers his before he can reach for another drink. Luke blinks, turns his head slowly and looks at the hand before looking up to see the person at the head of this intervention.

He wants to see Reid so badly, but it's Noah. Noah who has a habit of magically being around when Luke needs someone. Luke looks up at him, mouth heavy and with too little energy to open and speak. Noah's hand squeezes around his fingers.

“Come on,” Noah says quietly, not here to argue. His mouth is sad and down turned, his eyes round and imploring tenderly. “Time to go home.”

Luke looks at Noah's hand around his. He nods and lets Noah help him to his feet, allowing his arm to be pulled around Noah's neck, not fighting the arm that snakes around his own waist. He doesn't fight the drive back to the farm, his current refuge from reality, far enough from Lily and Holden's concerned looks. He doesn't even fight Noah thrusting a bottle of water under his nose and watching Luke drink it down.

Noah talks him up the stairs and to the edge of his bed, taking off his shoes and jacket, patiently struggling with his jeans before luring him under the covers with quiet words. Then with a final sad look, he turns to go and finally Luke makes a move, reaching out and grabbing Noah's hand.

“Please stay,” he says quietly.

They've been here before, but Noah has a different look in his eyes this time. He nods at Luke, taking off his shoes and jacket. He gets into bed, spooning up behind Luke. Luke remembers this tight embrace, it's always been perfect, too too perfect. It's always been exactly what he wants and exactly what he needs.

“Luke,” Reid says, crouching by his bed, pale in the dark bedroom illuminated only by the moon outside the window. He sets his hand down just out of reach of Luke's fingers.

Luke reaches out and places his hand over Reid's and squeezes. He feels a bloom of warmth rush through him, so strong and with such a jolt that he has to let go of Reid's hand. Luke sits up feeling breathless and giddy.

Noah is up with him, holding him tight, too tight and whispering, “It's okay. It was just a dream. It's okay, Luke. Go back to sleep.”

Luke thinks to himself, he doesn't want to dream anymore.

## ***

Sobering up is painful. It means that moment where Reid's hand was so real in Luke's is nothing more than a drunken fantasy. It means facing up to the reality that he can either keep drinking until everything doesn't hurt so much or he can for once just let it hurt.

"You could leave Oakdale," Reid says the next night as Luke starts to feel the familiar longing for drinking and dreaming.

"Where would I go?" Luke says morosely. "This is the only place I've ever wanted to be."

"We could... we could still be together. If that's what you want," Reid says, sounding so unsure, so unlike himself.

Luke turns away from the fridge, forgetting the beer bottle to stare at Reid who is standing there looking as uncomfortable and out of place in Oakdale as he ever did.

"What do you mean?" Luke whispers. "What do you mean be together?"

Luke stares at Reid. “How can we be together? You're dead.” Reid doesn't say anything. He just seems to look through Luke, as if Luke is the ghost here. “Reid, how can we be together?” Luke whispers.

But Reid is gone again.

## ***

It's not that Luke doesn't notice the whispering in corners, he just ignores it. He's sorry people are worried about him. He's sorry they think he seems to be using a path of madness to deal with his grief, but looking strong for everyone else's benefit has gotten old pretty quick. What he really wants to do is scream in Reid's face. Ask him how he let this happen. More importantly, how they can be together again.

How can the living possibly join the dead?

## ***

“Jesus,” Noah says when he stops at Luke's table in Java.

Luke has been here all morning with a bunch of books from the library, drinking coffee, reading, making notes, drinking coffee, reading ad infinitum. His eyes feel like rocks and his chest is hollow with a tripping heart from the coffee and sleepless nights. He knows Noah is looking at a ghostly figure, grey and pale with exhaustion.

“Hey yourself.” Luke gives Noah half a hand-wave, not looking him in the eyes. Noah is quiet for the longest time and Luke can practically hear the dialogue building up to be talked at him. All questions and judgements. When they don't come, Luke looks up through bleary eyes. “What?”

Noah's mouth is miserably clamped shut. He seems to sag rather than sit down opposite Luke. He eyes all the books and asks, “What's all this?”

Luke shakes his head. “Nothing. Just stuff.”

Noah picks up a book, seems stunned for a moment and then picks up another. Luke easily reads it off Noah's face, the reality of this situation dawning in clear bold lines. Again, Luke waits for Noah to point out what a waste of time these books are, but he seems to be changing into a different kind of Noah right in front of Luke's eyes. He has a soft look on his face, a quiet pain across his features.

“I get the reading choices, Luke,” he says softly, pushing away a book on the afterlife. “But how about you take a break to eat, maybe get some rest? I'll drive you home.”

Luke frowns at Noah, so reasonable and understanding. Luke scratches the back of his head, before smoothing his unruly hair back a few times. He nods in agreement. He could do with some rest, or maybe with something besides coffee. Noah smiles and reaches for Luke's hand, squeezing it. Staring at the gesture, Luke only sees the pale shade of Reid's skin, the nimble fingers that lifted chess pieces, the skilled hands that held a scalpel, but never held Luke long enough.

“You only see what your mind wants to see,” Reid says firmly, giving Luke a stern look from where he sits next to Noah. For a moment, it almost looks as though Reid is the one holding his hand and Noah is the ghostly intrusion. But then the world snaps back into regular rotation and Reid is invisible again.

Luke pulls his hand away from Noah's and gets up for another coffee.

## ***

Luke doesn't sleep much, but when he does he dreams. He can't remember ever having such vivid dreams in his life. He can't remember having dreams at all in fact. But now, when he's foolish enough to fall asleep, he wanders long corridors of indecipherable dream-scape .

I'm not going anywhere without you, Luke.

Luke runs, looking for corners and doors in a large house made of dark wood, the lights here never burning bright enough. But he feels so trapped and so small here. He feels like the shadows could pick him up and squeeze the life out of him. Every time he wakes he feels like it's been a true struggle to return to the world of the living. And every time he's more terrified of falling asleep.

## ***

Luke has never been to the spot where Reid died. He's not sure why it matters. But it does. Reid spent so much time trying to escape his Oakhell and then when he was ready to stay... Something about the whole thing scares Luke deep in the recesses of his mind.

"You can do it too," Reid tempts. "Get the hell out."

Tired to the point of exhaustion, Luke blearily blinks up from where he's sitting on the couch amongst scattered books. He imagines he sees Reid looking down at him, face expressionless.

Luke laughs drunkenly. "Like you? Smashed by a train, Reid? What a stupid way to die."

Reid leans in close enough that Luke can feel a warmth that isn't really there. “Trust me, Mr. Snyder, there are worst ways to go.”

Luke closes his eyes and laughs, shaking his head. “Screw you, Reid Oliver.”

## ***

Luke dreams of being on a train headed towards a trapped car. He hears an almighty smash and wakes in a bed in a darkened room he doesn't know. He leaves the bedroom and wanders the nightmare corridors again, filled with darkness and mourning. He can feel a heart beating loud as a drum. It could be his own, he wouldn't be able to tell. Not in this murky layer of his subconscious where he knows all the doors have been locked by him.

“Hey.” Luke turns to see Reid standing at the top of a grand staircase that stretches as if welcoming Luke with open arms. “I've been waiting for you.”

“I'm dreaming,” Luke says.

Reid snaps his fingers, “Nap time's over.”

When Luke wakes in bed, gasping for breath, heart hammering in his chest and Noah lying unaware at his side, Luke has no idea why a dream has left him this scared.

## ***

“Okay. That's the freakiest dream ever,” Noah says as Luke grins and butters his toast.

“Um, I blackmailed a guy into coming to Oakdale to fix your eyes before falling in love with him before he got hit by a train,” Luke says half-laughing. “Freaky's the understatement of the year. Oh, I also only had one kidney.”

Noah chokes on his coffee and starts to laugh. “I... I don't want to know.”

Luke smiles, sitting back with a sigh. “I know it's mostly funny, but it was so real at the time. Everything I felt... actually, it was pretty awful.”

Noah reaches out to stroke Luke's arm, pulling a face. “Yeah. I'm not sure I like it much either.”

Luke takes a hold of the hand on his arm, playing with Noah's fingers as he grins. “Are you jealous of my dream boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Noah says with a laugh. “How lame is that?”

Luke moves closer to Noah. “I don't think it's lame. I kinda like it.”

Noah presses a kiss against Luke's smiling mouth. “Oh yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” Luke says, before pulling Noah close and pushing all nightmares aside.

## ***

Though still unnerving, the strange kaleidoscopic nightmare has mostly faded from Luke's mind. He had somehow made up a vision in his mind where a perfect world went wrong in every way possible.

“Oakhell,” Luke snorts, a small smile playing on his lips as he shuts his laptop. He's spent the morning working on a paper, drinking Java dry and now it's time to hook up with Noah. Things are good between them, no wonder Luke is having panic-ridden dreams.

“You mind if I take this seat?” someone asks as Luke starts to shove his laptop into his bag.

“Yeah, sure, I was just leaving,” Luke says, patting down his pockets for his cellphone.

“Not on my account, I hope.”

Luke looks up seeing the man who is about to take his table. He has a paper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other accompanied by a strange quirky smile with mischievous corners to his mouth.

“No,” Luke says. “I was done.”

The man smiles and nods as he sits down. “Okay.”

Luke gets up, grabbing his bag. He frowns at the man. “I'm sorry, but do we know each other? You look really familiar.”

The man looks around the coffee shop and pulls a face. “I drink a lot of coffee.”

Luke laughs. “Yeah, I spend a lot of time here too. Well, enjoy your coffee.”

The man lifts his cup as if toasting an occasion. “Always do.”

Luke turns to go, but then finds himself turning back. “I'm Luke by the way. Luke Snyder. You know, in case you need to share a table sometime.”

The man grins. “That's very kind of you, Luke Snyder. Reid. Reid Oliver.”

Luke nods. “Well, see you around, Reid Oliver.”

Reid smiles and says nothing, but his eyes contain undecipherable volumes of mystery that has Luke intrigued.

## ***

“You're quiet,” Noah says, playing with Luke's hair as they lay in bed, Luke's head on Noah's chest.

“Just thinking,” Luke murmurs. “I had a really weird experience today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I met this guy at Java. I felt like I knew him. Like, I really knew him from somewhere, but turns out I didn't. He's just some regular.”

Luke feels Noah shrug under him. “Guess that happens when you see faces regularly.”

Luke nods. “Yeah. It was just... weird.”

“What is with you right now?” Noah asks. “First weird dreams. Now weird people.”

Luke laughs. “He wasn't weird. Well, I think. I don't really know.”

“Was he hot?” Noah asks.

Luke laughs hard. “Um... I didn't notice?”

“Liar,” Noah says, tightening his embrace around Luke.

“Well... he was cute. Not really my type though,” Luke says as he turns in Noah's arms and inches up closer to lay a kiss on Noah's mouth.

Noah smiles, his hands stroking up Luke's sides. “He better not be.”

## ***

“Will you look at that? Only one chair free and it happens to be at Luke Snyder's table. Again.”

Luke smiles and looks up to find Reid standing there with a newspaper and coffee, as usual. It 's become a ritual quickly after the first few times, Reid always acting as if they've been mid-conversation for hours.

“So, how's the boyfriend?” Reid asks, opening his paper.

Luke smiles and somewhat shyly answers, “Noah? He's... he's good. Great, actually.”

Reid nods, not looking away from his paper. “Great, huh?”

Luke frowns. “You don't think it's true?”

Reid puts the paper down, blinking at Luke. “I never said that.”

“There was a tone,” Luke says, narrowing his eyes at Reid.

Reid scrunches up his face. “See, when people say something is great, what they really mean is it doesn't completely suck, which isn't the same thing as great.”

Luke stares, sitting back and folding his arms across his chest. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing. It just must be really hard to be that cynical all the time.”

Reid shakes his head. “Nope.”

Luke laughs. “Well, everything is great. Despite what you think. It's perfect.”

“Yeah, it does seem a little perfect.”

“What's wrong with perfect?”

“Oh, nothing. If you believe in a perfect world.”

“Well, I do,” Luke says. “I believe you can have everything you want. You just have to make it happen.”

Reid seems to be watching Luke closely, reading him with his clever eyes. “Is that what you do? You make it happen?”

Luke makes a noise like laughter, though there's nothing funny here. “You know what, time to go, I think.”

“Me or you?” Reid asks. Luke stills. “Anything that gets too scary. Too real. Does it just disappear?”

Luke gets up so fast his chair falls backwards. He fumbles to get it upright, dropping more things in the process and Reid ends up helping pick up papers and a book from the floor.

“You okay?” Reid asks, looking across at Luke as they pick up pages of notes Luke has made.

Luke nods and shakily replies, “Yeah. Should probably cut back on the coffee.”

Luke is aware that Reid is watching him as he puts everything neatly back in place and he feels like squirming out of his skin. He makes quick work of getting his jacket on and shoving stuff into his bag. He has to leave, he has to leave right now.

“Don't forget this,” Reid says, holding something out and placing it in Luke's outstretched hand before he can process what it is.

Everything fades out around the chess piece. It stands out black, turning everything else into an insignificant smudge. Before Luke can pretend it away, the dream snaps once again.

## ***

Luke sits up with a gasp, open book held fast to his chest and something clutched hard in the palm of his hand. Luke opens his fist to find the black chess piece.

“It's all about what you want, Luke.” Luke starts to turn around towards the voice. “Don't. Just listen.”

“I'm dreaming?”

“Yeah. And you need to wake up.”

Luke shakes his head. “I don't know how.”

“Yeah you do,” Reid says. “You know what you have to do.”

Luke takes a deep wet breath, turning his head towards his shoulder, if not all the way to look at Reid. “Are you real?”

Luke feels the touch of a hand on his cheek, the warmth of a body close by. “What do you think?”

Luke leans into the touch. “I don't know.”

“Then you'll just have to trust me,” Reid says softly, his touch disappearing from Luke's face.

Luke twists around to find no one there. He slowly gets up, the chess piece in his hand, the walls of the house feeling as if they're closing in. Luke takes a look around at the living room, backing away slowly. When he turns to leave, Noah is blocking the door.

“Hey,” he says. “You all right?”

“I'm fine,” Luke says. “I just need to get some air.”

“I'll come with you,” Noah says with a smile.

“No. I need some time on my own,” Luke says. “I'll be right back.”

Luke pushes past Noah, only to have Noah grab his arm and pull him back. “Don't go. Come on, stay with me a while. Isn't that what you want? You and me? Together? Your mom and dad'll be here soon.”

Luke slowly pulls out of Noah's grasp, shaking his head. Thickly he answers, “No they won't.”

Luke turns around and doesn't look back again as he walks to the car. Somehow he knows that everything is collapsing behind his back as he walks away. He knows there's nothing to turn back for. In the car as he drives and looks in the rear view mirror, there's nothing to look at. Just a starry black sky.

Luke brings the car to a stop when he finds the place he's been looking for. He can see the track to the left and the right of him. This is where Reid was trapped. This is how Reid left Oakdale. Luke reaches for his seatbelt. It doesn't work. Luke won't struggle with it.

Though there are tears on his face, Luke laughs and says, “I really hope I'm not making a mistake here.”

Reid takes Luke's hand in his own. “You're not. I promise.”

Luke nods, hearing the train thundering down the track. He looks at Reid and remembers bright blue eyes before he turns his head and faces the oncoming train.

Luke doesn't close his eyes and Reid doesn't let go of his hand.

## opening

Reid is in the back room when he hears the bell ring at the opening of the front door. He puts down his book and sandwich and gets up, dusting off crumbs from the front of his shirt. When he steps out to stand behind the large wooden counter, he can see a man and woman perusing a bookshelf of old mouldy tomes that aren't really for customer use.

It's a sunny day today and some of the sunlight has managed to sneak into the store despite the narrow alley where Reid's shop and neighbours are usually hidden in the shade. Reid walks around the counter to approach the potential customers who are now peering at the back to front sign on the window, stencilled with gold lettering, telling outsiders that this is Oliver's, and underneath in smaller lettering, specialising in unconventional phenomenon, rates negotiable.

“This is a waste of time,” a man says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his expensive coat, receiving an amused look from the woman with him.

“Oh come on now, Damian. It's not that bad. I think it's rather quaint,” says the woman with him.

“Someone should tear the whole street down. It's a hovel,” Damian says blandly. “Lucinda, I cannot believe you are willing to waste your time with this... this charlatan.”

Lucinda shrugs. “Why not? It's not like we haven't wasted enough time with all those doctors, some of whom did a very good job of looking like charlatans.”

“I cannot be a part of this,” Damian says, shaking his head.

“Fine. Wait in the car,” Lucinda says. Damian stares at Lucinda. She softens her tone and says, “If he can help Luke, does it matter?”

“And if he can't?” Damian asks.

Lucinda shrugs. “We move on to the next charlatan.” She laughs when Damian shakes his head in disbelief. “Well, what would you do? Have me brooding in a dark corner too? Because I can't do that, I won't do that. That's you. I have to do something, no matter how ridiculous you may think it is. I want my grandson back, damn it.”

Damian sags a little and nods. “I know. I want him back too.”

Lucinda smiles, taking Damian's hand. “Then let's give this a chance.”

“Can I help?” Reid asks, looking from Lucinda to Damian.

Damian turns and openly looks Reid up and down, not impressed by his appraisal. “I doubt it.”

Lucinda smacks him on the arm with the back of her hand before smiling at Reid. “Yes, actually. We're looking for Doctor Reid Oliver.”

Reid folds his arms across his chest and nods. “You found him.”

Lucinda steps forward and smiles. “Oh. Good. I'm Lucinda Walsh and this is Damian Grimaldi, my son-in-law. We'd like to talk to you about my grandson, Luke. We're hoping you might be able to help us.”

## ***

Reid pulls the blinds down and puts up the 'Closed' sign before taking Lucinda and Damian to small space behind the shelves where there's a couch and coffee table for perusers. He sits opposite them in a battered old high wing back dark leather chair, listening quietly.

“There was an accident,” Lucinda says. “Almost two years ago now. Luke was in the same car with his mother and stepfather when it happened. They didn't make it, but he survived. He's been lying in a coma since. The doctors say he might never wake up.”

Reid nods. “You think I can help.”

“No,” Damian says. “I think no one can help. But Luke's grandmother is more hopeful than me in these matters.”

“I saw a woman. She said... she said that Luke is trapped,” Lucinda says, looking embarrassed. “She said she knew a woman you helped. Louise Thornton? She said you could do something called dream walking.”

“If your grandson is dreaming,” Reid says. “If there's nothing there--”

“No,” Lucinda says firmly. “He's still in there. I know he is. I can feel it.”

Reid sighs, leaning forward and looking down at his hands. “I've only ever done this twice. It wasn't pretty either time. You're asking for a lot here.”

“Doctor Oliver, I am a very rich woman. I will pay double, triple whatever your fee. I just want my grandson back.”

Reid looks from Lucinda to Damian. “And what do you think, Mr. Grimaldi?”

“I will do anything for my son,” Damian says. Then he adds, “But if you try to exploit--”

“I know, my life a living hell, right?” Reid says. He waves a hand at Damian. “Heard it before. Actually, heard it this morning.”

Damian smiles a little at that, nodding slowly. “As long as you understand, Doctor Oliver.”

Reid leans back in the chair. “Okay. I'll come see your grandson. If I think there's a way to get to him, I'll give it a shot. It won't be easy, so it won't be cheap. You should know that now.”

“We understand. Just tell us what you need,” Lucinda says.

“Well, I usually arrange my own supplies. All I need from you is payment and a date. Speaking of which, I'll get my diary to see when I can fit you in.”

“Oh,” Lucinda says, looking at Damian before she turns back to Reid. “We were hoping soon. As possible.”

Reid nods. “Well, it'll be a few months. I'm in the middle of a job right now. I can't just put you at the top my list.”

“How much will it take to do that?” Damian asks.

Reid blinks. “Um... you're probably used to getting your way by waving around wads of cash, but that approach is pretty much wasted on me. I've already made promises to people. People who don't have the privilege of your kind of wealth. I'm can't move you to top of the line because they couldn't afford to bribe their way ahead of everyone else.”

“We're not trying to bribe you,” Lucinda says diplomatically. “We're offering to pay you for the inconvenience of moving your schedule to accommodate us.”

Reid laughs. “And why would I be compelled to accommodate you?”

“I have a lot of good friends, Doctor Oliver. Friends who make other people's business their business. Friends who tell me that in your line of work sometimes the procurement of illegal items is necessary,” Damian says. Reid stares in silence. “There's a reason why people come to you. Why you can offer services others can't. Right? You think I'm not going to do research before coming here waving around my wads of cash? I'm a business man.”

Lucinda is staring at Damian in silence, but she's nowhere near affronted by his negotiation techniques. When Reid looks to her for some kind reprimand, she says nothing, her silence suggesting full compliance with Damian's underhanded tactics.

“And this is fair in your eyes, Mr. Grimaldi? Manipulating me into helping you?” Reid asks.

“I would do anything for my son,” Damian says firmly. “Anything.”

Reid sits back in his chair. “Fine. When?”

“We have a car waiting outside and then it's a small flight on my private plane,” Lucinda says.

Reid laughs out. “Wow. Looks you've got all your bases covered.”

Damian crosses his legs and leans back on the couch. “We'll wait while you pack.”

## ***

Once they step out of the plane, it's a long ride to the Walsh mansion, way out of the city and surrounded by green. The mansion looks like something out of a Hitchcock movie and makes Reid shudder a little when he sees it for the first time. Inside, while Damian and Lucinda disappear for a quiet argument, a man who Reid privately names Alfred the butler leads Reid into what looks like Lucinda's office, judging by the personal ornaments.

The photographs, from what Reid knows, must be of Lucinda's daughter and second son-in-law. The young blonde boy is obviously the grandson. He looks sweet and a little mischievous. It makes Reid hope there's something to save when he sees the kid. Lucinda walks in just as Reid is replacing a framed picture. She sees the photograph that Reid has returned to her desk and goes to it with a smile, turning it to look at.

“Luke?” Reid asks.

Lucinda nods. “Yes. That's my daughter Lily and her husband, Holden.”

Reid nods. “How does tall, dark and broody fit into all of this?”

Lucinda pulls a face. “Young love. Lily married Damian and they had Luke. They broke up and she married Holden. Damian was never around much when Luke was younger. I suppose he's hoping for a second chance... where are my manners? Would you like something to drink?”

Reid shakes his head, wondering how appropriate it would be see if he can get a sandwich. He's kind of hungry. “No thanks. I'd like to get this over and done with as quick as possible actually.”

Lucinda nods, looking somewhat uncomfortable and then quite tentatively says, “Well, in that case, I think it's time you met my grandson.”

## ***

Reid is led up a wide yawning staircase through a house that feels dark despite the large windows. Upstairs, Lucinda opens a heavy wooden door and nods to Reid. He walks into the bedroom and the first thing he sees a large four poster bed. There's a body under the covers, the face obscured by one of the posts. Reid can see medical equipment either side of the bed, somehow putting the whole look of the elegant room slightly off kilter. Placing his bag on the floor, Reid walks around the bed and sees Luke Snyder.

He's not the young boy from the photographs. He's a young man with floppy blonde hair, sound asleep. Behind Reid the TV is on, playing some god awful morning soap opera. Reid arches a questioning brow at Lucinda.

“I don't want him to feel like he's alone when I'm not here,” Lucinda explains. “Lily used to love that show. When Luke was a baby, she'd sit with him and watch.”

Reid turns his nose up at the definitely dicey acting and says, “I think they call that child abuse. Also, for all you know, that's what's keeping him in a coma. That wall is totally made of cardboard by the way.”

Lucinda smiles and goes to Luke's side, brushing his hair back from his face. “Well, let's see what you can do to wake him up then.”

“To begin with,” Reid answers, “how about we change the channel?”

## ***

Lucinda watches the whole time as Reid sets everything up. A lock of Luke's hair. A book of old incantations. A vial of mixture that makes Lucinda say, “Oh, it's vile all right.”

Reid moves an armchair to the side of Luke's bed and sits down. He opens the book on his lap. Looking at Lucinda he says, “If I'm not back after an hour, you need to burn that lock of hair.”

“Back?” Lucinda looks confused, but then she nods anyway and says, “All right. I can do that.”

Reid drinks down the mixture in the vial in one go, not thinking about the hair of a man he doesn't know and other ingredients that were never really meant for consumption. Looking at Luke and then the book, he quietly chants the lines on the page.

He blinks, once, twice and--

## ***

The sun is impossibly bright. Around him, Reid sees some small stores, perfect and pretty. The town centre has an odd old world charm to it without any of the decay caused by age. People are walking to and fro past him, back and forth they go with happy smiles. Looking down at himself, Reid sees he's dressed in a smart black suit with black shirt. He touches his face and finds the stubble gone and further up his hair feels less shaggy than it has been in a while.

Lucinda's right. There's something definitely here. Luke's mind has effortlessly incorporated Reid into this perfect world as if it was as easy as breathing. Reid wonders whether Luke is part of this dream himself, or just the creator of this universe.

“Hi.”

Reid turns around and, speak of the devil, he sees Luke Snyder right there. Smiling and watching Reid, Luke is much more than the inert man lying in a bed in that dark house. His floppy hair is shorter, his t-shirt faded and his jeans ripped and cherished looking.

“Hi,” Reid says.

“Are you lost?” Luke asks.

“Er... yes. No. Maybe,” Reid says slowly.

Luke laughs. “Well, which is it?”

Reid smiles. “Passing through actually. On a business trip. I guess the jet lag is getting to me.”

Luke smiles politely and says, “Ah. Well, there's a coffee place just behind you. Might want to get yourself a hit of caffeine.”

Reid nods. “Might just do that.”

Luke holds up a hand in a half-wave. “See ya.”

“Bye,” Reid says, watching him walk away to embrace a tall young man, before they both round a corner and disappear out of sight.

“Reid.”

Reid turns to find a man in a suit headed in his direction. To his astonishment, Reid knows this man is called John. He knows this man is here on a business trip too. In fact, he had Reid work for the same company. Reid stares at the man as the realisation sets in. Luke Snyder isn't just manipulating the dream, he's manipulating Reid somehow.

Reid reaches into his jacket and hopes to hell he'll still find what he needs. There it is, the lock of hair, his connection to the real world. Reid reaches into his pocket for a lighter and as quick as he can, he burns the lock of hair.

## ***

Reid gasps and throws the book aside, pushing himself out of the chair. He heads straight for the door to get some space between himself and Luke, but everything seems to be tilting and sliding and he's pretty sure the contents of his stomach are on the way up.

“Reid? Are you okay?” Lucinda is at his side, holding fast to his arm.

“I'm fine, I just need to get some air,” Reid manages while trying to normalise his breathing. “Just need... outside.”

But then his legs turn to water as the room flips Reid falls down before he can throw up.

## ***

Reid wakes to find himself in bed. It's in a room that looks only fractionally different to Luke's bedroom. As he turns his head he sees Damian sitting beside the bed, closely reading a newspaper.

“Hey,” Reid says, his voice rusty.

Damian puts the paper down. “You're awake. Good. Lucinda was very worried.”

Reid narrows his eyes at Damian. “Well, I guess that makes two of us.”

“Tell me, Doctor, what exactly are you a doctor of?” Damian asks, with a smile that suggests the answer to this question will hold no real surprises for Damien.

“You mean your researchers didn't tell you?”

“I was hoping you might be able to tell me otherwise. I'm not sure a doctorate in mysticism qualifies you as an expert on my son's condition.” When Reid opens his mouth to speak, Damian holds up a hand and continues. “I would more than anyone like to believe you are capable of waking up my son, but to put it simply, I do not believe in magic.”

Reid scrunches up his face. “You really don't have to use that kind of language. And just to be clear, it's mysticism and esotericism.”

“However,” Damian continues, ignoring Reid. “I saw an expression on Luke's face today. He has been lying motionless in that bed for almost two years and today he looked scared. I saw his hand turn into a fist, as if he would wake and tell you to stop what you were doing. You don't looked surprised.”

Reid groans and looks at Damian. “What do you want from me? You don't think what I'm doing is possible. You still want me to try and convince you otherwise? Well, newsflash, it doesn't matter what you think. I can either do this or not. What anyone thinks about it doesn't really come into it.”

Damian smiles slightly and nods, getting up to leave. “Why don't you rest? We'll talk later.”

Reid watches Damian walking away wondering if this creepy old house has any hidden escape routes.

## ***

“You spoke with him,” Lucinda says, her voice hushed. Reid nods, fully aware that Damian's eyes are on him. “What does that mean?”

“It means he's in there,” Reid says with a shrug. “He just needs to wake up.”

“Well, then why doesn't he?” Lucinda demands, slapping her palm down on her desk.

“Because, judging from the last time I took a walk through someone else's head, he has no idea he's not awake. To him that place is real.” Damian snorts, shaking his head. Reid lets out a huff of frustration. “I didn't want to come here. You brought me here. And if you don't like what you're hearing, you can send me right back, because I will happily leave.”

“No,” Lucinda says. “You're not going anywhere. I saw what happened in there. I saw the look on his face. You can bring him back. I know you can.”

Reid leans forward and looks Lucinda in the eyes. “But you don't know. Neither do I. He's so sure it's real I don't know I can risk going back. I was in his head, but I'm pretty sure he was in mine, whether he knew I was there or not.”

“What risk exactly does it pose to you?” Damian asks.

“Think about it,” Reid says flatly. “It's pretty obvious.”

Damian and Lucinda are quiet for a while before Lucinda barks out a laugh and says, “You're trying to tell us you could get stuck in there?”

Damian and Lucinda both laugh as Reid just sighs and says, “Why is that so far fetched? You're happy enough to pay me to root around in his head, but you don't think I can get stuck in there? Wow, money really does make people stupid.”

Still amused, Damian leans back in the seat next to Reid's, giving him a long appraising look. “How did you get out the last time?”

“An incantation. It allows me to create a virtual symbol in the dream-scape. In this case, a lock of your son's hair which acts as a bridge between his reality and ours” Reid explains.

“Like the lock of hair you told me to burn if you were still under after an hour,” Lucinda says.

“Exactly like that one. In the event that I couldn't get back, I would need you to break the tie between myself and Luke.”

“So then there really is no risk,” Damian says. “If you can't get back, we bring you back.”

“There's always a risk,” Reid says. “Not to mention the last time I did this I had migraines and nosebleeds for a month, which was pretty annoying. Not to mention messy.”

Lucinda smiles at Reid. “We can't make you do this. Hell, we're both not even sure exactly what this is. However, if you wake my grandson up, I will be in your debt for a very long time. Trust me, you could do with being owed a favour by Lucinda Walsh.”

Reid leans back and thinks hard on this. Walking around in other people's heads is not what he considers a perk of the job.

“I would also consider myself in your debt,” Damian says. Reid looks at him to find him a touch less arrogant than usual, though still carrying a touch of scepticism.

Reid nods and says, “I think I'd quite like being owed a favour by Lucinda Walsh and Damian Grimaldi.”

Damian smiles and says, “If you return Luciano to us, you will have it.”

## ***

Going in a second time is hard. One, because Reid knows what Luke is capable of and two, because his safe return depends on Damian and Lucinda, who are invested in Luke waking up, not Reid. Even so, Reid has done this before and he's done it successfully. How smart could Luke Snyder be anyway? Enough to outwit a dream walker? No way. No way in hell.

“Well, here goes, sleeping beauty,” Reid whispers from Luke's beside before closing his eyes and muttering the incantation.

## ***

Reid expects to find himself back in perfectsville, but instead he's in an apartment. It's bright and airy and doesn't have much furniture. Reid doesn't like the sterile look of it much. It's no surprise that within a few blinks the apartment looks more like a loft with naked brickwork and an eclectic mix of furnishings, something closer to Reid's own home.

Reid smiles at his surroundings and says, “You're a smart one, Mr. Snyder, I'll give you that much.”

Reid roots around his pockets to make sure he has his lock of hair for a quick getaway. His mind is already too quickly losing its hyper-awareness about being in this alien place. He shouldn't feel calm and relaxed, like he's at home.

“Hey.”

Reid grimaces at the voice and turns around to find an Adonis in the doorway to the bedroom. He remembers this face and body. Mostly the body. Josh is a blast from the past and somehow he has made it out of the recesses of Reid's mind and into this apartment.

“Fine,” Reid says. “I mean, I see ex-boyfriends hanging around in my apartment all the time.”

Josh grins, flashing a Hollywood smile at Reid. “Seriously, babe, I don't understand half of the stuff that comes out of your mouth sometimes.”

Reid sighs. He remembers now, the struggle between leaving Josh because he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box and staying with Josh because he was most definitely the hottest bulb in the box.

“Come back to bed,” Josh cajoles. “I'm cold.”

Reid laughs because this actually is a little insane. Louise Thornton had never opened his brain like a book before proceeding to turn it upside down and tip the contents out into her reality. Which means Luke is pretty adamant about keeping his reality safe and sound. Good to know, Reid thinks. Of course, in the meantime, Reid decides to head towards Josh and play along.

## ***

Reid wakes with a start. Next to him Josh stirs, slowly waking up and asking, “Hey. What is it?”

Reid looks at Josh and frowns, before asking, “Didn't we break up?” Josh nods, but offers no further explanation. So Reid says, “Oh. Well, as long as we're clear, I guess.”

Josh sighs and thumps back down against his pillow. “How about we go back to sleep and you tell me tomorrow how we can't do this again because it's a bad idea? I'm exhausted.”

Reid sighs with irritation and gets out of bed, leaving for the living room where he picks up his jacket and rifles through the pockets. He knows he's forgetting something. Something incredibly important. He finally finds a piece of paper with a number and name scribbled on it. Luke Snyder is the name.

That name is supposed to mean something to him, but Reid has no idea what.

## ***

On the way to his office, Reid holds out the piece of paper with Luke's name over the monitor of his assistant’s computer.

“Oakdale. Rich kid. Blind boyfriend,” she says.

“It's what I like about you, Mandy, short and sweet,” Reid says, crumpling up the paper and shoving it into his pocket.

## ***

Reid is sitting on his couch trying to rack his brain over something he's supposed to remember, but gets distracted when Josh saunters into the apartment and holds up a bottle of wine.

Reid frowns at him and says, “I thought we broke up.”

Josh laughs and says, “Kidder. Get some glasses.”

## ***

“Message from Luke Snyder,” Mandy says.

Reid looks at her as he tries to remember. “Rich kid. Coma.”

“Rich kid. Blind boyfriend,” Mandy says.

Reid nods, telling himself to call this guy later. He's been meaning to for a while.

## ***

Josh saunters into the apartment and holds up a bottle of wine, while Reid wonders why he even has a key.

Reid says, “We need to talk.”

Josh says, “Are we breaking up?”

## ***

“Message from Luke Snyder,” Mandy says. “Again.”

Reid eyes the number written down before him before he gets up and bolts from the office in a moment of quick realisation. When Reid gets to the apartment he looks for his jacket. The jacket he was wearing a week ago. He goes into his bedroom and looks through the closet, finding the jacket and pulling it out before rifling through all the pockets.

“Lock of hair,” Reid whispers. “Lock of hair. Burn it. Lock of hair.”

The phone begins to ring, loud and insistent while Reid keeps chanting to himself, the words beginning to break up. Reid stills, dropping the jacket on his bed. He stares at it, frowning in confusion.

The phone stops ringing.

Reid has no idea what he came here for.

He goes back to work and he makes a phone call to a place a called Oakdale.

## ***

“This is fair in your eyes, Mr. Snyder?” Reid asks the brat who has managed to blackmail him into leaving Dallas.

Should never have called him, Reid thinks. But it's too late now.

## ***

Oakdale predictably sucks the moment he lands. It sucks because he's been forced into this situation and it sucks because he really really did not want to come to Oakdale. It sucks all the way up to meeting Luke Snyder and his blind boyfriend.

Not to mention being lectured by Bob Hughes and the whole drama that follows Noah Mayer not being operated on. It continues with no access to the Grimaldi jet to get back to Dallas and ends with driving into the back of Kim Hughes car before being arrested.

Oakdale? More like Oakhell.

## ***

That first night in Oakhell, sitting in some overpriced hotel room, Reid thinks it might be quite nice if Josh was around. Good old flexible Josh. The hottest light bulb in the box, Josh. Reid sighs and pouts.

Someone up there must really hate him.

## ***

Luke Snyder. Reid can't hate him enough for holding him hostage here. This stupid Oakhell with its population of grinning polished morons. And there's no one here for him, he thinks on the way to the stupidly named Java. No one he knows or cares about. No one who can make him hate this place less. Make it even slightly more bearable.

It's so strange that he should meet Katie just when he needs someone like her. Someone who doesn't instantly annoy him. Even with a screaming child in tow. Someone he finds... pleasant. Oakdale is just full of strange coincidences.

## ***

Pissing Luke Snyder off becomes a bit of a hobby after a while. After all, he's the reason Reid is stuck here. Any barb Reid can get into their conversations is worth it. That flicker of immediate anger in Luke's eyes is worth it. Seeing the resentment of being kept apart from his boyfriend is especially worth it.

## ***

Chris Hughes. Reid honestly and really doesn't remember him, but strangely enough, throughout the days memories of Chris Hughes start to trickle back bit by bit, almost as if they are being written into his memory, line by line.

Chris Hughes does not like Reid at all. What's new? Oakhell. The drama never ends.

## ***

When the time finally comes for Reid to leave this hellish place, Luke Snyder seems to be waiting for Reid around every corner. No matter how far Reid tries to run, there Luke is, full of complaints and assumptions. Full of questions and eternally curious. Reid isn't surprised at all when at the end of that day he isn't on a plane back to Dallas.

He is surprised at his own lack of disappointment at leaving though. That's quite the surprise.

## ***

One new job and a punch to the face later, Reid finds himself sitting opposite Luke asking for a handout. It's almost as if the cosmos has manipulated him into co-operating with Luke Snyder. And now Luke is handing out exactly what Reid needs to stay here.

Even when Reid and Luke are trapped together in an elevator and all Reid can think about is how he'll never escape this place, that there will be no getting out of here, Luke gives him something to think about. Luke forces him to stop thinking about being trapped. It almost doesn't matter where he is.

It almost doesn't matter that Luke is the reason Reid is stuck here at all.

## ***

Away from Luke, Oakhell is a strange place with strange people. How can one town be home to so much drama? The place is like some damn soap opera.

I don't want him to feel like he's alone when I'm not here

Reid drops the clipboard in his hand. His face feels warm and his body is trembling slightly. He's forgotten something terribly terribly important and just as he feels it's coming back to him, Bob turns up to tell Reid he's being suspended, snapping Reid's attention back to the present.

Luke appears like a miracle and drags Reid away mid-rant before Bob can go ahead and knock him on his ass. Minutes later Reid can't believe he's asking Luke for help. He can't believe he's actually condoning bribery and the use of Grimaldi money to get him out of trouble. Luke refuses to stoop as low as he did to get Reid in Oakdale, but he promises his help, along with a trip on that private jet his family wave in people's faces whenever they can.

And why does he do it? For a guy called Noah Mayer. A guy who keeps pushing Luke away like his life depends on it. It's the first time Reid really thinks, what a waste.

## ***

“My name is Luke. Just say it.”

Luke is in the next room while Reid is in his, sitting in a chair, refusing to sleep on the bed no matter how neat and tidy it looks. He's run out of expensive snacks and reading material and the television feels too far away to turn on.

He asks himself why he can't say the name just to appease Luke. This odd little voice in the back of his head says you can't call someone by their first name if you don't know them, if they're a stranger to you. But surely he knows Luke. Surely he's been here long enough.

Reid is still thinking about it when next morning Luke stands close and flicks imaginary lint from Reid's lapel. He thinks about how he'd like Luke to be closer. How he'd like to see something in Luke's eyes for him rather than what he sees for Noah, that look of desperation in a man chasing something out of reach.

“You're going to be great,” Luke says.

“Easy for you to say,” Reid replies.

Luke says, “No it's not.”

For a moment Reid thinks he sees something in Luke's eyes that has nothing to do with Noah for once.

## ***

Luke makes Reid laugh. Reid is pretty sure that no one makes him laugh like this. He seldom finds people or situations funny. He finds them stupid, but never laugh out loud funny. Not the way Luke can smile and call Reid an urban cowboy and pull from him the purest laughter.

So of course he kisses Luke. Is it because he's happy he can continue to do his job? No, though the good news sure as hell presents a ripe opportunity to ride the wave of contentment he feels being here with Luke. It seems like the right moment to just let go and do what he wants to do and feel what he wants to feel.

Plus, afterwards, the look on Luke's face is pretty priceless.

## ***

The story should be easy from here. Reid and Luke should be kissing again and again. Instead, Luke is back to hovering around Noah Mayer and Reid is back to being an observer. It leaves him feeling distracted. Maybe enough to leave his watch inside Noah's skull.

Luckily he gets his act together by the time he's in the operating theatre making small talk with Noah. None of this is Noah's fault, not really. Reid being in Oakdale. Reid falling for Luke. None of this really has anything to do with Noah at all. So Reid does his job and tries to do it the best he can. Though, during the operation, Reid has the errant thought, “That wall is totally made of cardboard.”

That is the exact moment Noah begins to bleed, his brain causing problems for everyone even when he's unconscious.

## ***

The second errant thought takes place as Luke is being restrained by his parents. He can't help wondering what the hell Lily and Holden are doing here. They should not be here.

## ***

Days after the operation, Luke skulks around the hospital dressed like James Dean, falling asleep in uncomfortable chairs while Noah takes his sweet time to wake up. Reid almost wishes he could just jump into Noah's mind and tell him to--

Reid's stops mid-thought and looks through the blinds of Noah's room. For a moment he doesn't see a hospital room at all, but something more expensive and elegant. He sees Luke there, lying there so very still, dreaming, two shadowy figures by his bed, watching over him.

And between one blink and the next, the vision is gone.

Reid pats downs his scrubs for something important he can't remember.

## ***

When Luke says, “Are you jealous?” Reid wants to answer, “Of course I am, you moron.”

When Mr. Snyder says, “Don't call me that,” Reid wants to take a hold of him and kiss him hard, but he can't because he thinks he might never let go and Oakdale seems a dangerous place to hold on to anything.

## ***

The first time Reid feels that something normal is happening in Oakdale is when Luke asks him about high school and Reid ends up babbling like a dork. There's something real about this. Something honest in the way Luke talks to Reid and the way Reid finds himself responding. So much of the time he feels as if he's playing a part in some cosmic joke. But just before he and Luke kiss, Reid feels like this is something real. Finally, something real.

## ***

Reid's life in Oakdale is circular. Mostly he seems to coast through the days which all resemble each other until someone usually comes along to punch him in the face to kick off a new circle of hell. Last time it was the father of a dead patient, this time it's Noah Mayer putting his sight to good use.

This starts the Hughes circle of hell, beginning with Bob's objection to Luke and Reid's relationship and ending with Doogie making a bid for the chief of staff position. Right off the bat, Reid knows this will all end badly.

## ***

“Luke and I are together,” is an easy thing to say, but there seems to be a distance between Luke and Reid that never really closes. For every step Reid takes to get closer, something is already waiting to keep them apart. Sometimes it's Chris, sometimes it's Noah and sometimes it's nothing at all, the distance existing all by itself. Sometimes, Reid thinks, it has something to do with the fear in Luke's eyes. He finds himself wishing that Luke would just wake up to whatever it is he's too afraid see.

## ***

“If you really love someone you shouldn't run away from it just because it scares you,” Reid says, though he's not sure if he's telling himself or telling Luke.

Chris Hughes is fighting for his life while Luke and Reid dance around that constant gap. Luke says he loves Reid, but Luke still feels out of reach. Reid wonders if this is real love and he doesn't know where the doubt comes from.

Still, as he heads off to get Doogie a new heart, he tells Luke he loves him, because if one thing is certain in Oakhell, it is the fact that Reid Oliver has fallen in love with Luke Snyder.

There's a strange tentative happiness on Luke's face. But also, there it is again, that look of fear.

## ***

Reid stops, right on the track as realisation hits him clear as day. He's being released. He's being sent away because Luke is a coward. Reid watches the train, frozen for a second. Then he finds the strength somehow to search through his pockets, muttering an incantation.

The lock of hair is suddenly in his fingers.

Reid tries his best to outrun a train.

## ***

There's a strange gray haziness. Voices sound as if trapped in bubbles. Sometimes the bubbles pop and the voices are loud and Reid's eyes water from their brightness and sometimes he hears nothing but a sludge of sound that makes him feel blind.

And then a tone.

A long high-pitched tone that just goes on forever and ever.

## ***

Reid wakes with a long loud gasp. He sits and just breathes for a while. He feels... he feels good actually. The last time he did this he didn't so much wake up as fall out and then throw up. Right now he feels quite balanced.

He recognises the room immediately as Luke's room in the Walsh mansion. The TV is still playing a recording of the awful soap opera Lucinda keeps on for Luke. Reid gets up from the bed and walks towards the TV, smiling when he sees a young doctor in a clinch with his lover.

“Figures,” Reid mutters.

Reid sees Damian and Lucinda by the door, both in quiet conversation with each other, looking rather worried. Reid goes to them. They don't turn to acknowledge his approach and continue in their conversation, which is pretty rude for even as people as rich as them.

“Hey,” Reid says, snapping his fingers between their faces. They don't even blink. Reid walks back to the bed and sees Luke sleeping on.

Next to the bed he sees himself slumped back in a chair, dead to the world. He stares at Luke. “You... you threw me out of my body. You threw me out of my body? You... you little brat!”

Luke doesn't respond, so Reid shouts, “Hey! Richie Rich! I'm talking to you!”

Luke, predictably, still does not respond. Reid climbs onto the bed and sinks to his knees, shaking his head. “How did you do that? How could you do that and still not wake up, Luke? You can't stay in there forever, you know. Not after holding me hostage for--” Reid looks at the clock on the dresser. “Wow, eight hours. I don't wake up soon, I'm going to need a new pair of underwear.”

A hand shoots out and grips Reid's wrist. When Reid looks down, Luke is watching him through tired and barely open eyes as he whispers, “You're not real.”

Reid leans in close so they're both eye to eye. “Oh I'm real all right, Mr. Snyder. So are you. What's not real is that imperfect soap opera reality of yours where mommy and daddy are still around to kiss every little boo-boo and where your perfect little yo-yo of a boyfriend always bounces back to you.”

“Get out,” Luke whispers and Reid can almost feel his body stretch towards the prone figure in the seat next to the bed.

Reid holds on tight, pressing his forehead to Luke's. “Not without you, Luke.”

Luke's hand releases from around Reid's wrist and he's gone back to his hiding place. Reid sits back and looks at him. He reaches out and cups Luke's face, closing his eyes and finding a way back into Luke's mind.

“I know you can hear me, Luke. I know you can hear me.”

## endgame

Reid wakes up slowly, feeling tired, but otherwise normal. It's the first time in a month he's woken up without feeling as though his brain might slide out of his ear before landing on the floor like a pancake. Even so the route from the bed to the bathroom feels long, not to mention the amount of energy it takes just to get dressed and go downstairs to open the shop.

Nothing much has changed here. People trickle in through the week with an assortment of problems that don't fit any conventions. Reid does the best he can to solve these little mysteries. He doesn't really feel up to more than the little mysteries though. The big ones tend to be too complicated. Especially ones that include rooting around in the heads of comatose patients.

Two weeks ago he was stuck inside the head of Luke Snyder, heir to millions, sole grandson of Lucinda Walsh and son of Damian Grimaldi. It wasn't until Reid returned home that he found how rich this guy was. Rich and troubled. A drunk in a volatile relationship. A medical school drop out. His parents had gone to bring him home and never made it themselves. Reid almost hates himself for taking them away from Luke a second time.

One of Reid's morning rituals has become to sit behind the counter, laptop open as he searches for new articles on Luke Snyder. From what he can tell, Luke Snyder has made a miraculous recovery. Luke Snyder may be returning to med school. Reid takes extra time to read the article on Luke Snyder setting up a foundation to help needy causes.

Reid thinks back to the last time he saw Luke, waking up in that uncomfortable chair just in time to see Lucinda and Damian going to his side as he lay there, body still and eyes open as if in shock. Then Reid had promptly passed out to wake a day later in another room with Damian at his bedside.

Reid had wondered if this was another sub-section of Luke's reality. But he felt like shit, which almost always indicated that this was real life. “Oh good,” Reid had said, his voice rusty. “I'm still here.”

“Yes you are,” Damian said.

“How's Luke doing? In the world of the living?”

Damian nodded. “He is. The doctor is with him now. The hospital will have to run tests, but Doctor Hughes says the prognosis is good.”

“Hughes? Bob Hughes?” Reid asked.

Damian frowned back and said, “Yes. How did you know?”

“Good guess,” Reid replied as he tried to sit up.

Damian got up, pushing Reid down. “I think you should rest. Doctor Hughes was worried about your blood pressure. Rest. And you should eat something too.”

Reid shook his head, pushing Damian's hand away. He sat up slowly, swinging his legs out of bed and placing his feet against the floor with a sigh. “I'll be fine.”

Damian sat down with a long sigh. “How did you do it?”

Reid held up his hands, wiggling his fingers. “Magic.”

Damian gave Reid a long inquisitive look. “We burned the lock of hair after one hour. But it didn't work. You didn't wake up.”

Reid nodded, though it made his head throb even more. “I said there's always a risk.”

“But you took it anyway,” Damian said.

Reid chuckled and looked up. “You didn't leave me much of a choice.”

Damian looked down at his hands, clearly uncomfortable. “No. That was my mistake.”

“He's your son. You did what you had to do. I'd probably do the same thing,” Reid said, finally trusting his legs to support him as he got up. The world tilted left and right for a second, but slowly his balance returned enough to let Reid be sure he wouldn't throw up on Damian Grimaldi's very expensive shoes. “Anyway, I believe I'm now owed a favour by Damian Grimaldi of Grimaldi Shipping, right?”

Reid spied his shoes and bag by the dresser, carefully making his way to his belongings. Behind him, Damian said, “I never told you the name of my company.”

Reid blinked, not looking back. “I probably read it somewhere.”

“In Luciano's mind.”

Reid sighed and turned around. “Does it matter? I mean, half the stuff in your son's head wasn't real anyway. Just enough to make him comfortable.”

Damian went back to staring at his hands, fingers linked together in front of him. “And was he comfortable with the name Damian Grimaldi?” Reid waited quietly until Damian elaborated with, “I haven't always been a good father to Luke.”

Reid laughed, leaving Damian looking confused. “You virtually kidnapped me to bring me here to help your son. I think you'll find Luke has a very similar outlook on what it is to love someone, Mr. Grimaldi.” Reid turned back to his bag, rifling through it for necessary toiletries. “Anyway, even if you've been a crappy father so far, you just got yourself a second chance. Just don't screw it up. You might not get a third one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need a shower.”

As Reid picked up his bag and headed to the bathroom, Damian said, “Doctor Oliver.”

“Yeah?”

“I owe you,” Damian said with a small smile.

Reid nodded and said, “Yes you do. Go be with your son, Mr. Grimaldi.”

## ***

After he had showered, dressed and had a sandwich, Reid went to see Luke. The television was off and the bed empty, the medical equipment still there, looking out of place now it was useless. Reid wasn't sure what he was doing here. What was his reason now? The eight hours he had spent duelling with Luke's mind? What did that even mean?

“Reid?” Reid turned to see Alfred the butler, who was holding out a white envelope. “Lucinda said I should give you this. She also said the car and plane is ready whenever you are.”

Reid took the envelope, opening it to view the contents. There was a cheque for a very generous amount made out to his name and a note card from Lucinda. It was the usual thanks gratitude blah blah and phone number if he ever needed anything. Reid looked back at the empty bedroom.

“Where is he?” he asked.

“I understand Luke's been taken to the hospital to run some tests. I'd be happy to pass on a message for you if you like.”

Reid thought about it. What message could he leave Luke? I don't know you, but I think I love you? What the hell would it mean to Luke anyway? What did you do with a message left to you by someone you met in a dream?

“Do me a favour, will you?” Reid said, digging into his pocket and pulling out the one thing he always kept with him. He started to hand it to Alf-- “Sorry, I didn't get your name.”

“Brian. Brian Wheatley, I'm Lucinda's manager,” Brian said with a polite smile.

“Right. Well, Brian, I'd appreciate it if you could pass this on to Luke.”

Brian frowned at the offering. “A chess piece? I wasn't aware Luke ever played chess. Is he any good?”

Reid smiled. “Actually, he kind of sucks.”

Brian smiled back and said, “I had no idea you knew him that well.”

Reid cleared his throat and nodded. “I don't. Not really.”

If he was confused by Reid's response, Brian was too polite to let it show. He just said, “Well, there's always time for that. I'll be sure to pass this on. For your next game, maybe?”

Reid nodded. “Yeah. So, the car and plane.”

“Ready when you are,” Brian said.

Reid cast one last look at the room and said, “I'm ready.”

## ***

Reid makes a cursory round of the shop to be sure no one accidentally gets locked in. Again. There's nothing quite like finding an occult fiend revelling in his reference books first thing in the morning. Typically, there is one person loitering in front of the most unstable collection of items, idly standing there with hands in coat pockets.

“Shop's closed,” Reid calls out as he replaces a book on a shelf and then goes to the counter to grab the keys to the front door.

There's something on the counter by the old fashioned brass bell. Someone must have put it there while he was in the back of the shop. Reid picks up the little black knight and immediately runs out into the street, looking left and right. There's no one in sight. No shining black limo with Luke Snyder inside.

Reid dejectedly turns back into the shop, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. Then he remembers the guy by the bookshelf and walks further inside, turning to find Luke standing there, dressed every inch like a Grimaldi, hands in pockets and uncertain look on his face.

Reid stares at Luke for the longest time. There's an amazing terror in his chest that none of this is real. That this is another layer of wishful thinking. And then he realises he doesn't care. He really doesn't care. Because this is Luke and he's here.

“Hi,” Reid says quietly. What else do you say to the man you loved in a dream? “You look good.”

A ghost of a smile appears on Luke's face. “So do you.”

“How are you?” Reid asks. “Well?”

The smile is much larger, enough that his face completely lights up. “I'm good. Really good. Thanks to you.”

Reid shrugs nonchalantly, smiling at Luke. “It was nothing.”

Luke laughs. “Wow. Modesty. Suits you.”

Reid grins, somewhat caught in Luke's gaze. “Well, I wouldn't get used to it if I were you.”

Luke smiles and looks away before looking around at his surroundings. “So, Grandmother tells me you're an investigator of unnatural phenomenon.”

“Pays the bills,” Reid says with a shrug. “So... what are you doing here?”

Luke turns away from a bookshelf and gives Reid a long look. He takes forever as he stands there thinking before he replies. “When I woke up, I could remember everything. None of it felt like a dream. More like memories of this other place. A place where things went wrong, but somehow they always fixed themselves. Until you.”

“Makes sense. I was never a product of your mind. It had to change the rules of the game.”

Luke nods, taking a few steps in Reid's direction, but nearly not enough. “I didn't know it was me. I didn't know I was creating this fantasy world. I would never--”

“I know,” Reid says. He smiles as reassuringly as possible. “I was there. I know.”

Luke looks away, his eyes on the dusty old rug as he nods. “When you died...” Luke looks at Reid and when he speaks his voice sounds brittle. “Damian said you were with me for eight hours. I'm not sure what right that gives me to be here. It's not like you haven't already done enough for me.”

Reid tiredly sags where he stands, closing his eyes and letting go of a breath he had no idea he was holding. When he opens his eyes to find Luke watching him from the middle of the room, all he says is, “You're late. At least by a week.”

Luke smiles a little and quietly asks, “Then why are you standing so far away?”

“I was with you for eight hours. What right does that give me to come over there--”

Reid doesn't have to move an inch because before he can finish his sentence, Luke strides across the room and crushes his body against Reid's. His hand is possessive in Reid's hair, the other hand holding on to the front of Reid's shirt, refusing to let go. Reid feels his body jerk into alertness, his arms wrapping around Luke and holding him close, holding him hard as they kiss.

“Oh god,” Luke whispers against Reid's mouth. “You're real.”

Reid nods, relishing the feel of Luke's solid body in his arms. “I thought you might not come.” Luke leans back slightly, taking a good look at Reid before laying the palm of his hand flat against Reid's chest. “It's okay. It never happened.”

Luke nods, the corners of his mouth turning down enough to compromise his smile. He looks Reid in the eyes and says, “Yes it did. I was there.”

Reid cups Luke's face with both hands. “It was a bad dream. That's all.”

Luke nods, his smile back, if slightly shaky. “Okay.”

Reid takes Luke's hand in his own and nods towards the door that leads upstairs to his apartment. “Come on. My turn to hold you hostage for a while, Mr. Snyder.”

Luke smiles, pressing a kiss against Reid's mouth. “Luke. Call me Luke.”

Reid nods, his throat feeling tight as an odd weight seems to lift in his chest. He smiles and says, “Luke. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Luke shakes his head slowly, flexing his fingers in Reid's hand before leaning in close for a long indulgent kiss. “Maybe later. First, we have some unfinished business.”

Reid smiles and lets Luke lead the way.

**checkmate**

**Author's Note:**

> Partially named after the Coldplay song, **42**.


End file.
